OK so here's my take on things:

I hate seeing young children with pierced ears, their mothers say things like "oh she looks so cute". But children are not play-things; they are vulnerable beings who's welfare parents are responsible for and therefore proper consideration should be given rather than "oh I'll get her ears pieced because Courtney got Shania's done and they look well cute"!

We decided 13 would be appropriate if they wanted to have them done, and guess what, my 14 year old hasn't had them done yet because she doesn't want to. Lucky for her she's our daughter because other parents would have inflicted it on her already without even asking!

I also hate seeing dummies shoved in babies mouths, worse still toddlers! Firstly many parents do it as a matter of course with no thought involved whatsoever. They have a baby and they give it a dummy; cus that's what people do when they have babies. Heaven help them! When my first daughter was born my Mother In Law brought a pack of dummies to the hospital, they went in the bin. Neither of my girls ever had a dummy in their mouths and it never caused an issue. Absolutely no need for them, some think it will give them a quieter life but it actually creates a problem when it comes to weening them off it. All so unecessary!

Used a pushchair till the age of 3. Only ever had one pushchair with 2 girls only 2 years apart, so once the younger was in it the elder was definitely walking. I recall sitting in a cafe area at Disney World and a young boy was bashing a buggy-type thing about trying to get it passed a couple of chairs. After he'd succeeded I was surprised to see him get in the thing, was 7 or 8 years old!

No child of mine would have a BB Gun, just stupid!

I'd suggest no one smokes but certainly not parents!

Leaving children at home will depend on the children concerned and the circumstances. A time came when I'd leave one of mine for 20 minutes or so while I fetched the other from some activity they were doing. Probably aged 8 or 9 I'd say. Then came a point when I'd leave one or both for an hour or so, probably around the 10 mark. Now they are 12 and 14 and I'll leave them for a morning or and afternoon. Not been left overnight yet.

Not sure how old my girls were when they first had a sip of an alcoholic drink I had, older than 5 for sure; somewhere between 5 and 7. They'd ask what I had and I'd tell them and ask if they wanted to try a bit. Beer, wine, Baileys, don't recall them trying spirits. From the age of about 10 we've poured them some wine with Christmas Dinner, if they've wanted it. Our elder daughter took a liking to Baileys so we bought her 3 minitures of it at Christmas when she was 12 and a half. She could only drink them at the week end and when we were around. She kept them for special occasions and several months later she still had some left.

I think it's a good idea to let them try things in small quantities rather just say no and make a big taboo out of it. Also give them some responsibility and promote trust.